1、 Positioning in Practice Strategic Role of Marketing For large firms that have two or more strategic business units (SBUs), there are generally three levels of strategy: corporate-level strategy, strategic-business-unit-level (or business-level) strategy, and marketing strategy. A corporate strategy
2、 provides direction on the companys mission, the kinds of businesses it should be in, and its growth policies. A business-level strategy addresses the way a strategic business unit will compete within its industry. Finally, a marketing strategy provides a plan for pursuing the companys objectives wi
3、thin a specific market segment. Note that the higher level of strategy provides both the objectives and guidelines for the lower level of strategy. At corporate level, management must coordinate the activities of multiple strategic business units. Thus the decisions about the organizations scope and
4、 appropriate resource deployments/allocation across its various divisions or businesses are the primary focus of corporate strategy.Attempts to develop and maintain distinctive competencies tend to focus on generating superior financial, capital, and human resources； designing effective organization
5、al structures and processes； and seeking synergy among the firms various businesses. At business-level strategy, managers focus on how the SBU will compete within its industry. A major issue addressed in business strategy is how to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. Synergy for the unit is
6、 sought across product-markets and across functional department within the unit. The primary purpose of a marketing strategy is to effectively allocate and coordinate marketing resources and activities to accomplish the firms objectives within a specific product-market. The decisions about the scope
7、 of a marketing strategy involve specifying the target market segment(s) to pursue and the breadth of the product line to offered. At this level of strategy, firms seek competitive advantage and synergy through a well-integrated program of marketing mix elements tailored to the needs and wants of cu
8、stomers in the target segment(s). Strategic Role of Positioning Based on the above discussion, it is clear that marketing strategy consists of two parts: target market strategy and marketing mix strategy. Target market strategy consists of three processes: market segmentation, targeting (or target m
9、arket selection), and positioning. Marketing mix strategy refers to the process of creating a unique blend of product, distribution, promotion, and pricing strategies (the four Ps) designed to satisfying the needs and wants of customers. Target market strategy and marketing mix strategy are closely
10、linked and have a strong interdependence. The position of a product identified from the target market strategy serves as a guideline for formulating marketing mix strategy. Market segmentation is the process by which a market is divided into distinct customer subsets of people with similar needs and
11、 characteristics that lead them to respond in similar ways to a particular product offerings and strategic marketing programs.Targeting or target market selection is the process of selecting a segment or segments to serve by evaluating the relative attractiveness of each segment, the benefit sought,
12、 and the firms relative business strengths.Finally, positioning is the process of designing product offerings and developing strategic marketing programs which collectively create an enduring competitive advantage in the target market. The concept of target market strategy especially positioning is
13、well-known and widely accepted by most marketing practitioners especially consumer goods managers as useful Atheoretical concepts in formulating marketing mix strategy. In practice, however, marketers tend to bypass formal positioning and go directly to formulate marketing mix strategy. This may be
14、due to the fact that these managers do not know how to obtain perceptual maps, which are maps that show the positions of products on a set of primary customer needs. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate a practical way for marketing practitioners to obtain perceptual maps for positioning an
15、d marketing mix strategy formulation. Specifically, perceptual mapping and its relation to positioning are first discussed. This is followed by discussion of statistical techniques that can be used to create perceptual maps. Finally, a example of positioning process by factor analysis is demonstrate
16、d. Perceptual Mapping: Identification of Strategic Benefits Positioning is the perceived fit between a particular product and the needs of the target market, and thus positioning concept must be defined relative to the customers needs and competitive offerings. It is one of the most important strate
17、gic concepts because it is concerned with differentiation. Positioning reflect the careful efforts of marketing firms to portray the benefits they offer customers and to differentiate themselves from competition. Positioning is critical for a product=s success. Not only must the product deliver the
18、benefits the customer needs, but it must do so better than competition. Effective positioning requires assessing the positions occupied by competing products, determining the important dimensions underlying these positions, and choosing a position in the market where the organizations marketing effo
19、rts will have the greatest impact. An essential tool for strategic benefit positioning is perceptual maps. Customer Needs and Perceptual Mapping: Method and Procedures Perceptual maps represent the positions of products on a set of primary customer needs. Perceptual maps visually summarized the dime
20、nsions that customers use to perceive and judge products and identify how competitive products are placed on those dimensions. In practice, marketers need to know the number of dimensions, the names of those dimensions, what more detailed customer needs make up the dimensions, where competition is positioned, and where the ideal position for a new product or for repositioning is.
